


Where Are You My Dear Hope?

by Magnonette



Series: Whumptober 2020 [19]
Category: Moominvalley (Cartoon 2019), Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson, 楽しいムーミン一家 | Moomin (Anime 1990)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Family, Fluff and Angst, Good Parent Joxaren | The Joxter, Whump, Whumptober, Whumptober 2020, losing something dear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:21:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27103393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magnonette/pseuds/Magnonette
Summary: Mymble had never minded her partners leaving after she got pregnant, but, when she met Joxter, she knew it could be different. When she gave birth to Snufkin, she had many hopes that Joxter would come back. But, one day, everything changed.
Relationships: Joxaren | The Joxter/Mymlan | The Mymble
Series: Whumptober 2020 [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948144
Kudos: 29





	Where Are You My Dear Hope?

**Author's Note:**

> Broken Hearts - Grief - Mourning Loved One - Survivor’s Guilt
> 
> tw: ANGST

Mymble had so many children, often people wondered how she could take care of them all, how she could live with all those small, feral, children. However, to MymbleMamma, it was everything she needed to be happy. She loved all of them, no matter if they fathers didn’t stay, they were her dear children, and she adored them. She couldn’t even imagine a life without them.

It was no surprise when she fell pregnant from Joxter and gave birth to the most beautiful mymrik she could ever have imagined. All of her children were as amused and fond of that small little ball of fur and skin. That adorable child was one she knew was special.

She’d never hoped any of the men she encountered would stay, she knew after having so many children, that they were a lot to take in and that most people couldn’t deal with them for too long. That’s why, when she met Joxter, she didn’t expected him to stay by her side. She knew that mumriks like him needed their freedom and couldn’t stay in one place for too long. But, she was pleasantly surprised when he decided to stay for a while, even taking time to play with the children. He was the first one to do all of that, and she was starting to fear that he would leave her and never come back, as she’d grown so in love with, and she knew her children loved him as well. So, when he decided he needed some time for himself and to travel, she was worried about it. Of course, she didn’t try to stop him, she couldn’t, but she asked him if he would come back. To her surprised, he promised her he would. He couldn’t know when, but he swore he would come back to her.

Somehow, when she noticed she was pregnant, and after Snufkin’s birth, she started to hope that Snufkin’s presence would be enough for Joxter to stay with her, even if he had to leave now and again, as was his nature. She couldn’t imagine him leaving her after getting the news about the small baby child of his. He was too kind and caring to do such thing, and she knew, somehow, that he would love his son just as much as she did.

She was so happy to have this small child, her dear Snufkin, and she was so proud and eager at the idea of Joxter meeting his beautiful son. She started to wait for Joxter to come back. She was sure, deep down inside her, that he would come back, like he had promised. But he was taking so long. She started worrying if something had happened to him. But, no matter what had happened, she couldn’t do anything. So, she just waited, taking care of their son, and of all of her dear children, who were eager to help her with taking care of their baby brother. She just hoped he would come back one day, that he would be alright.

One day, when she noticed she was getting low on provision, she decided to go on a small trip to the nearby town. She had to ask her eldest children to take care of the others, to take care of Snufkin, who was still so young. It wasn’t usual, she’d done it before and trusted her children to take care of each other, so she wasn’t very worried at the idea of leaving them by themselves.

However, sadly, that day would change everything for her.

When she came back, after getting enough provision to last all of them for a long time, she noticed that something was strange. Her children were looking very sorry and worried. Somehow, she knew instantly. 

She asked them what had happened, where was Snufkin, but, as she suspected, their answers weren’t good ones.

They explained to her that they’d gone for a walk in the woods around their house, not too far in, staying close to the house. It was a part of the woods they knew very well, so it wasn’t very unusual for them to go there, but, one of them, the one that was carrying Snufkin, sound asleep in his basket, had to take a break. They had sat down by the river, looking into it as they rest, the basket with the baby mumrik resting next to them. They hadn’t even noticed when this one started to slide into the water and drift off. When they finally noticed it, it was too late, the basket was gone, so was their baby brother. They immediately looked around, calling out for their siblings and explaining everything to them. They all had looked for hours and hours, following the river to try to find if he’d been carried a little away. But, no matter how much they looked, they couldn’t find him.

Snufkin had been lost.

MymbleMamma couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t believe she’d lost her dear baby boy, her special one. She tried to go with them to search deeper into the woods, making sure all of them were there, but, she couldn’t find him either.

Of course, she never blamed the child that had lost him, but, instead, she blamed herself. She blamed herself for not staying, for not taking better care of them, for losing her dear son. She mourned him for years. Losing Snufkin was like losing hopes that Joxter would ever come back. And, even if he did, how could she face him after that? She could never.

She was never the same after that. She was still loving and caring with her children, but she was more protective, more careful, and, more sad. She tried to keep a happy façade in front of everyone, but, they could tell she was still grieving her lost son. She had hoped at first that he was alright, but with time, she’d started to believe he was probably dead. She could never forget herself for losing her son.

One day, about ten years after the incident, she received a letter from her old friends, the Moomins. They were talking about a vagabond mumrik that their son had met and taken back home with him. Apparently, he looked just like Joxter, and Little My had talked to them about her little brother, lost years and years ago. She was apparently thinking that the boy could be him, and MoominPappa had decided to ask Mymble about it, and if she could meet him. 

When she read the letter, Mymble couldn’t help the tears pooling her eyes, her paws starting to shake as she realized that, maybe, her dear lost son wasn’t dead, maybe he was alive and well. Now, she had to know. She couldn’t believe that it could be real, but she needed to see him, to make sure from herself. Of course, Little My couldn’t be sure, not after ten years, and not when she was so young when he was lost. She probably couldn’t even remember much of him.

Mymble had to know.

But, as she was preparing to go, warning the children that she would drop them at their sister’s house, at Mymble’s Daughter’s house, someone knocked on her door. 

When she went to open the door, she stood there, in stunned silence, frozen in place. In front of her was a shy looking Joxter.

He apologized awkwardly to her, explaining that he wanted to come back years ago but had been caught up in some bad things that he couldn’t get away from for years. He was deeply sorry to have broken his promise.

Mymble couldn’t believe it. Her dear Joxter. He was back. He was back, and she might be able to meet their son after years of thinking he was dead. She didn’t even think when she pulled him into a tight embrace, telling him she accepted his apologies and that she had something important she had to tell him.

She took him inside and sat him on the couch as she told the children to go play outside for a while. She then explained everything to him. She explained that he had a son, that this son had been lost years before, and that now, that son might turn out to be alive and at their friend’s house.

Joxter was shocked. He stayed silently staring at her in disbelief for a long time, so long that she was worried he would refuse to stay with her because of her carelessness. But, after he recovered from the original shock, it turned out that he was just surprised and shock at the news. He looked like he really wanted to meet his son, and he was so very sorry that he couldn’t have been there when she needed him, for her and for their son.

They both decided to go meet that boy that could be their son together. They made their way to MoominValley, dropping the children at Mymble’s Daughter’s house on the way, and continued on to their friend’s house. There, they noticed an old green tent near the bridge to the house.

When they arrived at the house, Mymble couldn’t believe it. It was him. Her dear baby boy. He was there, standing in front of her, looking shy and a bit uncomfortable. She didn’t even had to think, she knew it was him from the second she saw him, she pulled him in her arms, crying. He awkwardly hugged her back, patting awkwardly her back, as if to reassure her. She smiled brightly, wetly at him when she let go. It was Joxter’s time to awkwardly hug their son, overwhelmed at the idea of being a father and apologizing for not being there.

They both kept apologizing to Snufkin, who was quite overwhelmed as well, finally meeting his parents and getting to see that they actually cared for him, not like he’d been told by whoever had found him. He accepted their apologies and tried to reassure them that it was fine, even if he wasn’t sure himself how he felt about the whole affair. 

In the end, they agreed that Snufkin couldn’t come back and live with them at MymbleMamma’s house with all the children. He needed calm and space, he needed to be able to travel. And, he already had his friends. They agreed that he would spend some time with them in the winter, or come from time to time during the year. Joxter promised to only travel in the winter as well, praising his son for coming up with the idea. He agreed to stay at MymbleMamma’s house for a good part of the year, asking to spend the rest with his son, as long as this one would accept his presence.

As much as Joxter had never ever imagine being a father, he ended up being a very good one. He quickly became very close to his son, and they were both happy to spend some time together and to come by Mymble’s house to spend time with her and the kids. Even Little My turned out to be a very good big sister, despite her small size. She was very protective over him and would make him swear to be careful and to come back in the Spring.

They were finally all reunited. A beautiful and amazing family that Snufkin had never even imagined having as he grew up alone. They were all so happy to have each others.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. I hope you liked it.
> 
> My poor heart ached as I wrote ;o; But, hey, I gave them the good ending. Snufkin gets to be happy and loved in the end. (He might even think that they're staying too close to him sometimes lol. They're just worried they'll lose him again, and he doesn't mind that much because he loves them is doesn't want to lose them either.) Anyway, boy be happy, parents be happy, everyone be happy :3


End file.
